System and methods of photon-based radiotherapy and radiosurgery delivery

ABSTRACT

Photon-based radiosurgery is widely used for treating local and regional tumors. The key to improving the quality of radiosurgery is to increase the dose falloff rate from high dose regions inside the tumor to low dose regions of nearby healthy tissues and structures. Dynamic photon painting (DPP) further increases dose falloff rate by treating a target by moving a beam source along a dynamic trajectory, where the speed, direction and even dose rate of the beam source change constantly during irradiation. DPP creates dose gradient that rivals proton Bragg Peak and outperforms Gamma Knife® radiosurgery.

STATEMENT CONCERNING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

This invention was made with government support under NSF CBET-0755054.The government has certain rights in the invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to photon-based radiosurgery and morespecifically to dynamic photon painting. The present invention providesfor using a dynamically changing radiation beam (such as speed,direction, and/or dose) to irradiate a target thereby significantlyincreasing a radiation dose falloff rate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Radiosurgery is a non-invasive medical procedure for various kinds oftumors and one of the most effective means for treating local andregional targets such as brain tumors. Instead of a surgical incision,radiosurgery delivers a high dose of high energy photons in radiatedbeams to destroy the tumor. Radiosurgery is a very efficient method fortreating cancers and avoids loss in quality of life compared to othermore invasive methods such as surgery or chemotherapy. Since radiatedhigh energy photons can also damage normal cells that are irradiated asthe beam passes through a patient to irradiate a tumor, the key of agood radiosurgery plan is to maintain a sharp radiation dose fallofffrom the high radiation dose regions (high dose regions) inside thetumor to the low radiation dose regions (low dose regions) of nearbyhealthy structures. The steep radiation falloff rate of dosedistribution—known as the “dose falloff rate”—guarantees that normal,healthy tissue and other body parts or structures near the targetreceive a low dose of radiation while the center of the target or tumorreceives a high dose of radiation. Sharper radiation dose falloff willresults in better tumor control and less damage to the normal tissue andother body parts surrounding the tumor that are irradiated by theradiation beams.

Focused Beam Geometry:

Currently, most radiosurgeries are performed in a “step-and-shoot”manner and use a number of precisely focused external beams of radiationthat are aimed at the target from different directions to increase thedose falloff rate (see FIG. 1). In this technique, as the number ofradiation beams increases, the dose falloff rate improves. Therefore, alarge number of radiation beams focus on a target to create a high doseregion around the target at the point of intersection of the beams.Intuitively, if the number of beams is increased, the contribution ofeach beam inevitably decreases, resulting in a lower dose to the tissuesand structures some distance away from the target. This is because morebeams pass through different parts of the body at lower radiation dosesbut collectively provide the same radiation dose to the target.

However, in these conventional radiation treatments the number ofradiation beams is constrained to several hundred beams due to variousspatial and physical constraints. For example, in Gamma Knife®radiosurgery, the number of radiation beams is limited to about twohundred beams. Physically, it is not possible to drill a large number ofapertures in a fixed size metal screen without eventually causinginterference among the beams escaping from the apertures.

For intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), it is usually notpractical to deliver more than a dozen beams due to prolonged treatmenttime. Even with rotational techniques, such as Tomotherapy,intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT), volumetric modulated arc therapy(VMAT), and arc-modulated radiation therapy (AMRT), the maximum numberof radiation beams is still limited to a few hundred.

Fundamental Physics Underlying Photon Radiosurgery:

The fundamental physics underlying photon-based radiosurgeries includeshigh energy photon production and photon interactions with matter.

Generally, high energy photons used in current radiosurgeries areproduced either by radioactive decay from Cobalt-60 sources orbremsstrahlung interactions in a linear accelerator. In the linearaccelerator, electrons are accelerated in an electric field to a highenergy and then collide with a metal target. This generates radiationparticles or photons in a bremsstrahlung process. The photons producedfrom Cobalt-60 are called “γ-ray” or gamma rays whereas the photonsproduced from a linear accelerator are called “X-ray” or X-rays.

Typically photons produced by different sources are heterogeneous inenergy. For example, the energies of γ-rays emitted by Cobalt-60 are1.17 and 1.33 MeV. The energy spectrum of X-rays from a linearaccelerator shows a continuous distribution of energies for thebremsstrahlung photons superimposed by characteristic radiation ofdiscrete energies. The energies of photon beams created by a 6MVaccelerator are continuous from 0 to 6 MeV with a large number ofphotons having energy around 2 MeV. For examples, Gamma Knife®(see FIG.3) uses γ-rays emitted from radioactive Cobalt-60 sources to irradiatetumors, while Cyberknife® (see FIG. 4), which is essentially a linearaccelerator carried by a robotic arm, uses X-rays to irradiate tumors.

When photons pass through matter, they interact in one of three ways:Photoelectric effect, Compton effect and Pair production. Forradiosurgery, the predominant interaction is the Compton effect, wherethe incident photons collide elastically with orbit electrons. Duringthis elastic collision, energy is imparted from the incident photons toorbiting electrons and sets off a chain of reactions. These electronsknow as secondary electrons, as they travel through matter, produceionization and excitation along their path. On a cellular level, theseionizations damage DNA and cause cell death in the body.

Important Beam Characteristics for Treatment Planning:

A percent depth dose curve relates the absorbed dose deposited by aradiation beam into a medium. FIG. 2( a) shows the percent depth dosecurve of Cobalt-60 with an 80 cm Source Surface Distance (SSD). Twoparameters of a radiation beam are its Tissue Maximum Ratio (TMR) andOff Center Ratio (OCR). TMR is defined as the ratio of the dose at agiven point in phantom to the dose at the same point at the referencedepth of maximum dose. OCR is the ratio of the absorbed dose at a givenoff-axis point relative to the dose at the central axis at the samedepth. FIG. 2( b) shows the TMR of Cobalt-60 and a 6MV accelerator. FIG.2( c) shows the OCR of a 6MV accelerator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention improves the quality of radiosurgery by increasingthe dose fall-off rate. The dose fall-off rate is determined from highdose regions inside a target such as a tumor to low dose regions ofnearby healthy tissues and body parts or structure.

In order to further improve the focusing power of radiosurgery, dynamicstrategies are implemented in the present invention. A beam source isdirected around a focused point in a three dimensional (3D) trajectoryand may provide a constant change of dose rate, speed, and beamdirections to create kernels. The dynamic motion is equivalent tofocusing tens of thousands of beams at a focus point and thereforecreates kernels with a much sharper dose falloff.

The present invention uses a new optimization paradigm called“kernelling and de-convolution”. The paradigm uses two key steps: (1)kernelling, in which a subset of beams is “grouped” together byconvolution to form “dose kernels”, and then optimized based on thekernels. (2) de-convolution, in which, once kernel level optimization isdone, the kernels are de-convolved into individual beams to form a finaldynamic plan. Instead of relying on numerical optimization, the presentinvention uses a hybrid geometric technique that involves geometricrouting in both steps, and thus avoids the daunting task of optimizinghundreds of thousands of beams numerically.

Specifically, a radiation beam is moved along a helical type trajectoryto dynamically irradiate a target and thereby further improve the dosefalloff rate. This approach according to the present invention is termedherein as “dynamic photon painting” (DPP). The dose distribution fromthis convergence of tens of thousands of beams on a small volume is usedas the DPP kernel.

As mentioned previously, the key to radiosurgery is the dose falloffrate. According to the present invention, DPP moves a beam source aroundan isocenter in a 3D trajectory, which is equivalent to focusingthousands of beams on a single point, to increase the dose falloff rate.FIG. 5 illustrates the trajectories of the radiation beam in DPP. Thebeam source rotates around the center of the target from latitude angleφ₁ to φ₂, and 360° around in longitude angle.

The present invention also overcomes computational problems using theDPP approach. The least square problem often occurs as a key sub-problemof some larger computational problem, such as radiosurgery treatmentplanning. The least square problem is defined as min ∥Ax−b∥².Intuitively in this model, each column of A represents a radiation beam,the column vector b represents the ideal dose distribution and the goalof the optimization is to find the optimal “beam on time” for eachcolumn (i.e. X) to create a distribution as close to b as possible.Since in reality, “beam on time” must be non-negative, it is requiredx≧0, which gives the Non-Negative Least Square (NNLS). The following isa brief discussion of the solution of a least square problem and NNLSproblem. If the total treatment time must stay under a given thresholdT, we end up with the constrained least square problem with theconstraint

${\sum\limits_{x \in X}^{\;}x} \leq {T.}$There are many algorithmic solutions to the least square problems as isknown to those skilled in the art.

The present invention and its attributes and advantages furtherunderstood, are further appreciated with reference to the detaileddescription below of some presently contemplated embodiments, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the invention are described in conjunctionwith the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to the limitthe invention, where like designations denoted like elements, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates the cross-firing technique used in radiosurgery;

FIGS. 2( a)-(c) illustrate the Percent Depth Dose, Tissue Maximum Ratioand Off Center Ratio curves of Cobalt-60 and 6MV accelerator sources ofradiosurgery;

FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional Gamma Knife® machine used inradiosurgery;

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional CyberKnife® machine used inradiosurgery;

FIG. 5 illustrates the trajectories of the radiation beam in dynamicphoton painting according to the present invention;

FIGS. 6( a)-(b) illustrate curve fitting results according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 7( a)-(b) illustrate radiation dose profile comparisons betweendynamic photon painting (DPP) kernels and Gamma Knife® perfexion 4 mmkernels according to the present invention;

FIGS. 8( a)-(d) illustrate isodose comparisons between DPP kernels andGamma Knife® perfexion 4 mm kernels according to the present invention;

FIGS. 9( a)-(b) illustrate dose profile comparisons between kernelscreated by Cobalt-60 source and CyberKnife® cone beam according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 10( a)-(c) illustrate comparisons between the DPP kernel and 116MeV proton according to the present invention;

FIGS. 11( a)-(b) illustrate the impact of lateral angular range on thedose gradient of DPP kernels according to the present invention;

FIGS. 12( a)-(d) illustrate isodose distributions of DPP kernels ofdifferent latitude angular ranges according to the present invention;

FIGS. 13( a)-(b) illustrate the impact of complementary error function(ERFC) parameter on the dose gradient of DPP kernels according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 14( a)-(d) illustrate the isodose distributions of DPP kernels ofdifferent ERFC parameters according to the present invention;

FIGS. 15( a)-(c) illustrate treatment planning of painting athree-dimensional (3D) tumor volume with a spherical “paintbrush”according to the present invention;

FIG. 16 illustrates comparisons of dose-volume histograms (DVH)according to the present invention;

FIGS. 17( a)-(b) illustrate dose profile comparisons between a DPP planand a Gamma Knife® plan according to the present invention;

FIGS. 18( a)-(d) illustrate isodose comparisons between a DPP plan and aGamma Knife® plan according to the present invention;

FIGS. 19( a)-(b) illustrate a plot of C-shaped tumor phantom accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 20 illustrates comparisons of DVH according to the presentinvention;

FIGS. 21( a)-(c) illustrate dose profile comparisons between a DPP planand a Gamma Knife® plan according to the present invention;

FIGS. 22( a)-(d) illustrates isodose comparisons between a DPP plan anda Gamma Knife® plan according to the present invention;

FIG. 23 illustrates comparisons of DVH according to the presentinvention;

FIGS. 24( a)-(c) illustrate dose profile comparisons between various DPPplans according to the present invention;

FIG. 25( a)-(d) illustrate isodose comparisons between various DPP plansaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary computer system, or networkarchitecture, that may be used to implement the methods according to thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is now described in detail with reference topreferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Inthe following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Itis apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the presentinvention may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structuresare not described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure thepresent invention.

The present invention uses a new optimization paradigm, in which“kernelling and de-convolution” occurs in the following steps: Step1—(Kernelling) Dose kernels approximating the radiation dosedistributions of about 10,000 focused beams are created by convolvingthousands of equivalent beams via preset 3D trajectories; Step 2—(Dosepainting) The dose kernel is viewed as a 3D “paintbrush” and an optimalroute of the paintbrush is calculated to dynamically “paint” thetargeted tumor volume; and Step 3—(De-convolution) The kernel isde-convolved along the route from Step 2 into a single or a few mergedtrajectories extending into a 4π solid angle of varying source-to-focaldistances, which are connected into a dynamic treatment plan usinggeometric routing algorithms.

One advantage of the present invention kernelling and de-convolutionparadigm is routing convolved kernels rather than numerically optimizingindividual beams. By doing this process, the daunting task of optimizinghundreds of thousands of beams simultaneously is avoided, which even ifimplemented may prove to be too computational intensive to be practical.

Kernels are created by convolving 2,000 to 10,000 individual beams alongpreset 3D trajectories. This step requires a determination of the kindof beam profiles, cross-section shapes, and 3D trajectories that aremostly suited for dynamic radiosurgery in terms of creating the mostsharp dose fall-offs in the kernels.

As an integral part of the planning system, a library of kernels iscreated using different beam shapes, profiles, and trajectories. Thecharacteristics of each kernel in the library can be investigated forproducing useful dose focusing powers.

By convolving individual beams into kernels and optimizing kernelsrather than individual beams, directly optimizing a large number ofbeams is avoided, and treatment planning is shifted to routing thekernels to dynamically cover the target. To solve this routing problem,techniques from computational geometry are utilized.

The route calculated in the dose painting step will create a highquality plan, however to deliver it using robotic radiosurgery, thisroute of the kernels must be converted to a feasible dynamic route of asingle beam. To accomplish this process, the kernels to individual beamsalong the route are de-convolved, which results in a set of beams withdifferent orientation and locations. These individual beams are thenconnected into a tour, which will be the final dynamic radiosurgeryplan. Specifically, the following problem is solved: Given a planarregion with the presence of polygonal obstacles (e.g., the robotic armin a CyberKnife® unit is not allowed in certain region for fear ofcollision with patient or patient table) and a set of sites, find a tourto visit all the sites.

Turning now to FIG. 5, the above process as dynamic photon painting(DPP) may be performed by using a CyberKnife® cone radiation beam thatis revolved in a hemispherical trajectory around a target. As shown inFIG. 5 and described above, the beam source rotates around the center ofa target from latitude angle φ₁ to φ₂, and 360° around in a longitudeangle. The CyberKnife® beam model is obtained from curve fitting ofmeasured Tissue Phantom Ratio (TPR) and Off Center Ratio (OCR) tables.

FIG. 6( a) illustrates the curve fitting results for TPR and FIG. 6( b)illustrates the curve fitting results for OCR. The functions used forcurve fitting are:

${{TPR}(d)} = \left\{ {{{\begin{matrix}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{5}{a_{i}d^{i - 1}}} & {{{for}\mspace{14mu} d} < d_{\max}} \\ & {{{for}\mspace{14mu} d} > d_{\max}}\end{matrix}{and}{{OCR}\left( {{SAD},r} \right)}} = {0.5 \cdot \left( {{{erfc}\left( {a \cdot \left( {\frac{r \cdot 800}{SAD} - b} \right)} \right)} + {{erfc}\left( {a \cdot \left( {\frac{r \cdot 800}{SAD} + b} \right)} \right)}} \right)}},} \right.$where d is the depth and r is the off-center radius of the calculationpoint, Source to Axis Distance (SAD)=Source Surface Distance (SSD)+d,and

${{erfc}(x)} = {\frac{2}{\sqrt{\pi}}{\int_{x}^{\infty}{{\mathbb{e}}^{- t^{2}}\ {\mathbb{d}t}}}}$is the error function. For a 10 mm cone, the curve fitting parametersfor TPR are a₁=0.8185, a₂=0.0203, a₃=0.004, a₄=−0.0006, a₅=0.00002,a₆=0.0061, a₇=15, and for OCR a=0.4317 and b=4.9375. (Note that theparameter b here is essentially the radius of the field at 800 mmstandard SAD).

The motion trajectory of the beam source (see FIG. 5) is described usingthe following parameters: (1) latitude angular range [φ₁,φ₂], (2)longitude angular range [θ₁,θ₂], and (3) source to axis distance.

By rotating the radiation beam in a dynamic manner, DPP kernels arecreated. Comparisons were carried out with Gamma Knife® kernels andproton Bragg Peaks. The DPP kernels were compared with Gamma Knife®Perfexion 4 mm kernels. The Gamma Knife® kernel is a 41×41×41 matrixwith 0.5 mm steps.

FIGS. 7( a)-(b) show the dose profile comparisons between DPP kernelsand Gamma Knife® kernels. As shown, the DPP kernels were created using a10 mm cone of the CyberKnife® beam model, a SAD of 320 mm, and alatitude angular range of 1° to 50°. The SAD was chosen so that thediameter of the DPP kernel at the isocenter is 4 mm. FIG. 7( a)illustrates the dose profiles in the XY plane (along lateral directions)and FIG. 7( b) illustrates the dose profiles in the XZ plane (alonglongitudinal directions).

FIGS. 8( a)-(d) show the isodose comparisons of the two kernels,specifically between the DPP kernel and Gamma Knife® Perfexion 4 mmkernels. In these plots, the planes are defined as in FIG. 5. FIG. 8( a)illustrates the DPP kernel in the XY plane. FIG. 8( b) illustrates theGamma Knife® kernel in the XY plane. FIG. 8( c) illustrates the DPPkernel in the XZ plane. FIG. 8( d) illustrates the Gamma Knife® kernelin the XZ plane. The plot shown contains isodose lines from 10% to 100%with 10% steps. The DPP kernel of the present invention has a sharperlateral fall off than the conventional Gamma Knife® kernel.

In order to understand whether the DPP strategy or a specific beamsource makes the kernel better, the same DPP trajectory was evaluatedusing a Cobalt-60 Gamma Knife® beam source as the beam source to createkernels and compared to DPP kernels created with the CyberKnife® conebeam. FIGS. 9( a)-(b) show the dose profile comparisons between kernelscreated by the Cobalt-60 source and the CyberKnife® cone beam. FIG. 9(a) illustrates the dose profiles in the XY plane (along the lateraldirection). FIG. 9( b) illustrates the dose profiles in the XZ plane(along the longitudinal direction). The dose profiles are almostidentical, which means the impact of beam source is not significant andthe DPP strategy causes kernels to have better dose falloff rates.

The same DPP kernels were compared with a pristine 116 MeV proton beam.The proton beam was generated in a water phantom with 10⁶ primaryprotons. The proton beam had a circular Gaussian profile with σ=2 mm.The kernel had a 40 mm radius and bins with 0.5 mm sides and wascalculated using the Fluka simulation program. FIG. 9( a) shows the doseprofile comparison in the longitudinal direction. FIG. 10( b) shows thedose profile comparison in the lateral direction. FIG. 10( c) shows theVDH comparison. As can be seen, the DPP kernel deposits most of itsenergy in a small region.

The impact of latitude angular ranges [φ₁,φ₂] on the dose gradient ofthe DPP kernels is also considered. By varying φ₁ and φ₂, a set ofkernels is obtained and their dose profiles and isodose distributionsare compared as discussed below.

FIGS. 11( a)-(b) show the comparisons of dose profiles with latitudeangular ranges of 1° to 40°, 1° to 45°, 1° to 50°, 1° to 55°, 1° to 60°,and 1° to 65°. As Δφ=φ₁−φ₂ increases, the dose gradient increases in theXY plane (i.e., along the latitude direction) and decreases in the XZplane (i.e., along the longitudinal direction). The optimal angularrange is a tradeoff between the sharpness of dose in the XY plane tothat in the XZ plane. In addition to the above comparisons, the impactof φ₁ is considered, the starting latitude angle when Δφ is fixed. Thecomparisons of the XZ isodose distributions of DPP kernels of differentlatitude angular ranges are shown in FIGS. 12( a-d).

FIG. 12( a) illustrates a latitude angular range of 1° to 50°. FIG. 12(b) illustrates a latitude angular range of 5° to 55°. FIG. 12( c)illustrates a latitude angular range of 10° to 60°. FIG. 12( d)illustrates the Gamma Knife® 4 mm kernel. The plots shown containisodose lines from 5% to 100% with 5% steps. As φ₁ increases, theisodose distributions in the XZ plane become more and more irregular atlow dose levels in comparison to that of the Gamma Knife® kernels. Theimpact of the error function (ERFC) sharpness parameter on DPP kernelsis also considered as discussed below.

The Off Center Ratio (OCR) curve is fitted using functionf=0.5*(erfc(a(x−b))+erfc(a(x+b))), where erfc(x) is defined as:

${{erfc}(x)} = {\frac{2}{\sqrt{\pi}}{\int_{x}^{\infty}{{\mathbb{e}}^{- t^{2}}\ {{\mathbb{d}t}.}}}}$Mathematically, the parameter “a” reflects the sharpness, while “b”represents the width or radius of the field. FIGS. 13( a)-(b) show thecomparison of dose profiles with a=1 and a=10. Specifically, FIG. 13( a)illustrates the profile comparison in the XY plane. FIG. 13( b)illustrates the profile comparisons in the XZ plane. FIGS. 14( a-d) showthe isodose comparison of DPP kernels with different ERFC parameters.Specifically, FIG. 14( a) illustrates the isodose distributions of theDPP kernel with a=10 in the XY plane. FIG. 14( b) illustrates theisodose distributions of the DPP kernel with a=1 in the XY plane. FIG.14( c) illustrates the isodose distributions of the DPP kernel with a=10in the XZ plane. FIG. 14( d) illustrates the isodose distributions ofthe DPP kernel with a=1 in the XZ plane. The plots shown contain isodoselines from 10% to 100% with 10% steps. As can be seen from thesefigures, the dose falloff rate increases as “a” increases.

To demonstrate the advantage of DPP approach, the DPP kernels arereplaced with the Gamma Knife® kernels and the resulting radiation dosedistributions are compared. Gamma Knife® has long been consider the“gold standard” of various radiosurgery modalities. Since the DPPapproach can outperform Gamma Knife®, the DPP approach is advancing thestate of the art.

Two examples comparing the treatment planning result when using DPPkernels versus Gamma Knife® kernels are now discussed. In the firstembodiment, a 3D spherical phantom is used with a 80 mm radius and aspherical tumor with a 7.5 mm radius at the center. Both optimizationsran with identical parameters. To ensure that the best possible GammaKnife® plan is obtained, only 4 mm shots were used in the planningphase. The current Gamma Knife® system can produce kernels ranging from4 mm to 16 mm, with the 4 mm kernel being the sharpest kernel. FIG. 16shows the DVH comparisons. FIGS. 17( a)-(b) and FIGS. 18( a)-(d) showthe comparisons between dose profiles and isodose distributions.

FIG. 17( a) illustrates the dose profiles in the XY plane with the DPPplan shown by line 10 and the Gamma Knife® plan shown by line 12. FIG.17( b) illustrates the dose profiles in the XZ plane, again, with theDPP plan shown by line 10 and the Gamma Knife® plan shown by line 12.FIG. 18( a) illustrates the isodose distributions of the DPP plan in theXY plane. FIG. 18( b) illustrates the isodose distributions of the GammaKnife® plan in the XY plane. FIG. 18( c) illustrates the isodosedistributions of the DPP plan in the XZ plane. FIG. 18( d) illustratesthe isodose distributions of the Gamma Knife® plan in the XZ plane. Theplot shown contains isodose lines from 10% to 100% with 10% steps. Ascan be seen from these plots, the DPP plan and the Gamma Knife® plan arevery similar with the DPP plans being slightly better and more uniform.

However, the precision of these comparisons is limited by the resolutionof the Gamma Knife® kernels obtained from Zlekta at 5 mm. With such asharp dose gradient, the numerical limit is approached. If thesecomparisons could be conducted at a much higher resolution, the sharperdose gradient of DPP plans of the present invention would be morepronounced.

The DPP kernels and Gamma Knife® kernels are also considered for a morechallenging phantom, which contains a C-shaped tumor surrounding aspherical critical structure as shown in FIGS. 19( a)-(b) with the line14 defining the outer perimeter of the tumor, surrounding a sphericalcritical structure having an outer perimeter defined by line 16.Specifically, FIG. 19( a) illustrates the phantom in the XY plane andFIG. 19( b) illustrates the phantom in the XZ plane.

The goal is to have the tumor receive a 2100 cGy radiation dose. FIG. 20shows the DVH comparison. FIGS. 21( a)-(c) and FIGS. 22( a)-(d) show thecomparisons between dose profiles and between isodose distributions.FIGS. 21( a)-(c) illustrate the dose profiles with the DPP plan shown byline 18 and the Gamma Knife® plan shown by line 20. Specifically, FIG.21( a) illustrates the dose provides along the X direction; FIG. 21( b)illustrates the dose profiles along the Y direction; and FIG. 21( c)illustrates the does profiles along the Z direction. FIG. 22( a)illustrates the isodose distribution of the DPP plan in the XY plane;FIG. 22( b) illustrates the isodose distributions of the Gamma Knife®plan in the XY plane; FIG. 22( c) illustrates the isodose distributionsof the DPP plan in the XZ plane; FIG. 22( d) illustrates the isodosedistributions of the Gamma Knife® plan in the XZ plane. The plots showncontains isodose lines from 10% to 100% with 10% steps. The DPP plan isbetter than the Gamma Knife® plan. This is because, in the DPP plan, thetarget receives a higher dose and critical structures receive a lowerdose than with the Gamma Knife® plan.

Since the DPP approach uses a single cone beam to dynamically treat atarget, it is possible to modify the beam profiles of the cone beam(e.g., beam sharpness) to further improve the dose gradient. Todemonstrate this, two sets of DPP kernels are created with two differentERFC sharpness parameters a=1 and a=10. These kernels are used in theDynamic Gamma Knife® Radiosurgery Treatment Planning System. The goal isto let the tumor receive a 2100 cGy dose. FIG. 23 shows the DVHcomparison. FIGS. 24( a)-(c) illustrates the dose profiles with the DPPplan shown by line 22 and the Gamma Knife® plan shown by line 22. FIGS.25( a)-(d) show the comparisons between dose profiles and isodosedistributions. FIG. 24( a) illustrates dose profiles along the Xdirection; FIG. 24( b) illustrates dose profiles along the Y direction;and FIG. 24( c) illustrates dose profiles along the Z direction. FIG.25( a) illustrates the isodose distributions of the DPP plan with a=10in the XY plane; FIG. 25( b) illustrates the isodose distributions ofthe DPP plan with a=1 in the XY plane; FIG. 25( c) illustrates theisodose distribution of the DPP plan with a=10 in the XZ plane; and FIG.25( d) illustrates the isodose distribution of the DPP plan with a=1 inthe XZ plane. The plots shown contain isodose lines from 10% to 100%with 10% steps. As the ERFC sharpness parameter increases, the targetreceives a higher dose and critical structures receive a lower dose,which results in an improved treatment plan using the present inventionas compared to conventional treatment plans. In reviewing the profilecomparisons shown in FIGS. 24( a)-(c), it can be seen that the DPP planwith a=10 has a lower dose at a low dose region than a DPP plan witha=1. This means the critical structure receives a lower dose as the ERFCparameter increases.

CyberKnife® robotic radiosurgery may be used to implement dynamic photonpainting according to the present invention. In one embodiment, it iscontemplated that the computational challenge of optimizing thousands ofbeams can be solved using one or more of cloud computing, GPUtechnologies, vector instructions, and multithreading.

Dynamic photon painting for radiation therapy and radiosurgery may beused in place of proton therapy and Gamma Knife® radiosurgeries.

In addition to CyberKnife® robotic radiosurgery, FIG. 26 illustrates anexemplary computer system 100, or network architecture, that may be usedto implement certain methods according to the present invention. One ormore computer systems 100 may carry out the methods presented herein ascomputer code. One or more processors, such as processor 104, which maybe a special purpose or a general-purpose digital signal processor, isconnected to a communications infrastructure 106 such as a bus ornetwork. Computer system 100 may further include a display interface102, also connected to communications infrastructure 106, which forwardsinformation such as graphics, text, and data, from the communicationinfrastructure 106 or from a frame buffer (not shown) to display unit130. Computer system 100 also includes a main memory 105, for examplerandom access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage device,or any combination thereof. Computer system 100 may also include asecondary memory 110 such as a hard disk drive 112, a removable storagedrive 114, an interface 120, or any combination thereof. Computer system100 may also include a communications interface 124, for example, amodem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communicationsport, a PCMCIA slot and card, wired or wireless systems, etc.

It is contemplated that the main memory 105, secondary memory 110,communications interface 124, or a combination thereof function as acomputer usable storage medium, otherwise referred to as a computerreadable storage medium, to store and/or access computer software and/orinstructions.

Removable storage drive 114 reads from and/or writes to a removablestorage unit 115. Removable storage drive 114 and removable storage unit115 may indicate, respectively, a floppy disk drive, magnetic tapedrive, optical disk drive, and a floppy disk, magnetic tape, opticaldisk, to name a few.

In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 110 may include othersimilar means for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into the computer system 100, for example, an interface 120 and aremovable storage unit 122. Removable storage units 122 and interfaces120 allow software and instructions to be transferred from the removablestorage unit 122 to the computer system 100 such as a program cartridgeand cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), aremovable memory chip (such as an EPROM, or PROM) and associated socket,etc.

Communications interface 124 allows software and instructions to betransferred between the computer system 100 and external devices.Software and instructions transferred by the communications interface124 are typically in the form of signals 125 which may be electronic,electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received bythe communications interface 124. Signals 125 are provided tocommunications interface 124 via a communications path 126.Communications path 126 carries signals 125 and may be implemented usingwire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, aRadio Frequency (“RF”) link or other communications channels.

Computer programs, also known as computer control logic, are stored inmain memory 105 and/or secondary memory 110. Computer programs may alsobe received via communications interface 124. Computer programs, whenexecuted, enable the computer system 100, particularly the processor104, to implement the methods according to the present invention. Themethods according to the present invention may be implemented usingsoftware stored in a computer program product and loaded into thecomputer system 100 using removable storage drive 114, hard drive 112 orcommunications interface 124. The software and/or computer system 100described herein may perform any one of, or any combination of, thesteps of any of the methods presented herein. It is also contemplatedthat the methods according to the present invention may be performedautomatically, or may be invoked by some form of manual intervention.

The invention is also directed to computer products, otherwise referredto as computer program products, to provide software to the computersystem 100. Computer products store software on any computer useablemedium. Such software, when executed, implements the methods accordingto the present invention. Embodiments of the invention employ anycomputer useable medium, known now or in the future. Examples ofcomputer useable mediums include, but are not limited to, primarystorage devices (e.g., any type of random access memory), secondarystorage devices (e.g., hard drives, floppy disks, CD ROMS, ZIP disks,tapes, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices,Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (“MEMS”), nanotechnological storagedevice, etc.), and communication mediums (e.g., wired and wirelesscommunications networks, local area networks, wide area networks,intranets, etc.). It is to be appreciated that the embodiments describedherein can be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, orcombinations thereof.

The computer system 100, or network architecture, of FIG. 26 is providedonly for purposes of illustration, such that the present invention isnot limited to this specific embodiment. It is appreciated that a personskilled in the relevant art knows how to program and implement theinvention using any computer system or network architecture.

The invention is also directed to computer products (also calledcomputer program products) comprising software stored on any computeruseable medium. Such software, when executed, at least in part, in oneor more data processing devices, causes the data processing device(s) tooperate as described herein. Embodiments of the invention employ anycomputer useable or readable medium, known now or in the future.Examples of computer useable mediums include, but are not limited to,primary storage devices (e.g., any type of random access memory),secondary storage devices (e.g., hard drives, floppy disks, CD ROMS, ZIPdisks, tapes, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices, MEMS,nanotechnological storage device, etc.), and communication mediums(e.g., wired and wireless communications networks, local area networks,wide area networks, intranets, etc.). It is to be appreciated that theembodiments described herein can be implemented using software,hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific exemplary embodiments thereof have beenshown by way of example in the drawings and have herein been describedin detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent tolimit the disclosure to the particular embodiments disclosed, but on thecontrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure as defined bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system method of photon-basedirradiation, the method comprising the steps of: identifying a target;convolving a first plurality of individual photon beams of radiationalong preset three-dimensional trajectories to obtain one or moreconvolved beams; determining a plurality of kernels, wherein each of theone or more convolved beams includes a kernel; optimizing the pluralityof kernels to obtain a dose kernel; calculating a dynamic trajectory ofthe dose kernel to irradiate the target; de-convolving the dose kernelalong the dynamic trajectory into a second plurality of individualphoton beams of radiation; moving a photon beam source along the dynamictrajectory; and applying to the target one or more individual photonbeams of radiation of the second plurality to irradiate the target andincrease dose falloff rate.
 2. The computer system method ofphoton-based irradiation of claim 1, wherein the photon beam sourceincludes beam profiles and cross sections that can change or be anypredetermined shape.
 3. The computer system method of photon-basedirradiation of claim 1, wherein at least one selected from the group ofspeed, direction and dose rate of the photon beam source changeconstantly during said applying step.
 4. The computer system method ofphoton-based irradiation of claim 1, wherein a speed of said photon beamsource dynamically varies during said applying step.
 5. The computersystem method of photon-based irradiation of claim 1, wherein adirection of said photon beam source dynamically varies during saidapplying step.
 6. The computer system method of photon-based irradiationof claim 1, wherein a dose rate of the photon beam source dynamicallyvaries during said applying step.
 7. The computer system method ofphoton-based irradiation of claim 1, wherein the dynamic trajectory is ahelical trajectory.
 8. The computer system method of photon-basedirradiation of claim 1, wherein the dynamic trajectory is apredetermined trajectory.
 9. The computer system method of photon-basedirradiation of claim 1, wherein the dynamic trajectory is dynamicallyadjusted.
 10. The computer system method of photon-based irradiation ofclaim 7, wherein the helical trajectory is between a first latitudeangle φ₁ and a second latitude angle φ₂.
 11. The computer system methodof photon-based irradiation of claim 10, wherein φ₁=1° and φ₂=40°. 12.The computer system method of photon-based irradiation of claim 10,wherein φ₁=1° and φ₂=50°.
 13. The computer system method of photon-basedirradiation of claim 10, wherein φ₁=1° and φ₂=65°.
 14. The computersystem method of photon-based irradiation of claim 1, wherein thedynamic trajectory has a longitudinal angular range of 360°.
 15. Thecomputer system method of photon-based irradiation of claim 1, whereinthe dynamic trajectory has a longitudinal angular range from θ₁ to θ₂.16. The computer system method of photon-based irradiation of claim 1,wherein a photon beam source to an axis distance is a predetermineddistance.
 17. The computer system method of photon-based irradiation ofclaim 1, wherein a photon beam source to an axis distance varies duringsaid irradiation step.